WORLD DARTS
Cardigan darts player Justin Smith will this weekend bid for a place in the final 64 of the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championships when plays in the qualifiers in Wigan on Sunday.
Smith took up darts at a very young age and he is very much an all rounder as he turns out for St Dogmaels FC most weekends, having played in goal and as an outfield player and he often plays darts with his mate Jamie Lewis of Cardigan a full time professional who is currently ranked 32 in the World and a familiar face on television.
Smith is currently ranked 72nd out of 243 in the development tour and needs to get into the top 64 to qualify for the World Youth Championship (under 21) Finals which will be held on Sunday November 27 at the Butlins Minehead Resort.
The World Youth is an extremely tough tournament that draws youngsters from all over the world and the standards are exceptionally high. Former World Champion and current world number one Michael Van Gerwen, surprisingly never managed to win this title as a youth.
Smith, a local plumber who is employed by Castle Heating has already claimed some big scalps including flying Dutchman Jimmy Hendricks, a past winner of the World Youth Masters and who was victorious at the Antwerp Open recently.
Smith has also beaten Berry van Peer, another Dutchman who won two PDC Development Tour titles last year and his fellow countryman Ryan de Vreede who got to the last 32 of the BDO World Championships this year.
The very first PDC Unicorn World Youth Championships tournament was held back in 2011 when Arron Monk defeated Michael van Gerwen and whoever wins this year is assured of a very healthy prize as the winner takes home £10,000 and the runner up will pocket £5000!